Card Factory greeted with share sell off

DISCOUNT greeting card shop Card Factory fell as much as nine per cent in trading yesterday, as its shares started trading on the London Stock Exchange.

The business, which is being sold by private equity house Charterhouse, priced its shares at 225p to raise £90m for the company but they tumbled to as low as 205p.

Overall the listing raised £297m.

The share issue, which was priced at the bottom of a 225p to 300p range, underscores the increasing power of institutions in the new issues markets since the start of the year, when markets were frothier.

Several floats have gone underwater this year, including Brit Insurance and Pets at Home.